AN:Thank you for all the reviews. I plan to update this story three times a week now that school is out for the summer. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 20

I leave the landscape room and head down to the pit. I walk to the chasm nervously. I know deep inside she would never do that. Choose what Al chose. But, I can't help myself from glancing down at the raging river as I pass it on my way to the dorms. I see Will and Christina laughing and walking around. I walk past the dorms and glance in. She is not there either. This is pointless. I head to the control room and know the fastest way to find her is look at the security footage.

The only person on duty right now is Dan. Eric has already left. Dan nods his head at me. He doesn't ask why I'm there. Dan doesn't question much. He is middle aged and I know that his time in Dauntless is fast coming to a close. All members are sent to the factionless at forty. If you live that long. I wonder if the factions realize that they are sending trained soldiers in mass to the factionless. It seems a little reckless, careless even, to train the people you turn your back on how to fight. I hope the factionless don't realize they outnumber us five to one. Half of the factionless are failed Dauntless or aged out Dauntless. We really would stand no chance against them if they ever did decide to overthrow the city.

I press the thoughts out of my mind replaying the footage from the cameras near the fear landscape. I see her leave and she doesn't head back to the dorms, instead she heads to the roof. I see her pace back and forth and then she does something, that I didn't think any of the initiates would be stupid enough to do. She jumps on a train. I start to frantically search the cameras in the city. Finally, I am able to catch the back of her blonde hair as it enters the Erudite compound. Why would she go to Erudite? Doesn't she know they are the ones hunting the Divergent? Of course, she doesn't. But, why would she go to Erudite? I frantically pull up her file. She is from Abnegation. What possible tie can she have to Erudite? Then I see it. Her family lineage.

Mother: Natalie Prior

Faction of origin: Dauntless

Faction of residence: Abnegation

Father: Andrew Prior

Faction of origin: Erudite

Faction of Residence: Abnegation

Sibling: Caleb Prior

Faction of origin: Abnegation

Faction of residence: Erudite

I freeze. She went to see her brother. In Erudite. He knows everything about her. I am sure he has suspected her Divergence. Tris's Divergence is the strongest I have ever seen. I think that is why she has such a hard time hiding it. I feel helpless, small. I know there is nothing I can do, but wait for her safe return. I can't go charging into Erudite and pull her out of there without a valid reason and I don't think marching into Max's office and declaring my feelings for her is going to serve as valid reason.

I don't leave my constant watch of the security cameras, except to pace nervously behind the screens. I have every entrance in Dauntless pulled up. When she comes back, I will be there. If she comes back.

I will myself to push the thoughts out of my mind. My stare traces over the screens. Darting from one to another in an almost frenzied state. Then I see her. She exits a town car that I know belongs to Erudite. Then I see Eric walk into the room waiting for her. I run as fast as my legs will carry me to the back entrance. I pause outside the door to catch my breath. I steady myself before I enter. As I open the door, I hear Eric challenging her.

"I would like to hear an explanation for why you betrayed Dauntless, yourself, and me…" Eric taps his chest. "…by venturing into another faction's headquarters."

"I…" Tris starts. She takes a deep breath. She doesn't have one, not a satisfactory one. Eric's hands curl into fists, and I see the fear flash in her eyes. She knows she is in danger.

I press my back against the door, not letting it close. Eric has not noticed my presence and I don't want to give myself away too soon. I need to figure out his intentions, before I react.

"If you cannot explain," Eric says softly, "I may be forced to reconsider your rank. Or, because you seem to be so attached to your previous faction…perhaps I will be forced to reconsider your friends' ranks. Perhaps the little Abnegation girl inside of you would take that more seriously."

She tries again. "I…"

I can tell that she doesn't have a way out of this. Her breathing becomes shallow and I know she is starting to panic. I let go of the door, pushing it out a little to make it seem like I just walked in. It slams behind me as I walk up, stopping a few feet behind Eric.

"What are you doing?" I ask Eric.

"Leave the room." Eric snaps at me. I can tell he is agitated by my presence. Good. It will distract him from Tris. If I can get her to play along, he might let her off and come after me.

"No. She's just a foolish little girl. There's no need to interrogate her." I say. I pinch the bridge of my nose, but look at her through the space between my fingers, trying to send her a silent message to play along. She glances between me and Eric, and then I see it dawn on her.

"Just a foolish girl." Eric snorts. "If she were just a foolish girl, she wouldn't be ranked first now would she?"

"I…I was just embarrassed and didn't know what to do." Tris says, shoving her hands in her pockets, her eyes trained on the floor. I see tears forming in her eyes and she sniffles, "I tried to...and..." she shakes her head. Damn she's good. I am evening staring to believe it.

"You tried to what?" Eric asks, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Kiss me. And I rejected her, and she went running off like a five-year old. There's really nothing to blame her for but stupidity." I say, irritation in my tone. I mean that last part. She acted out of sheer stupidity. I am angry at her for that. She was stupid and reckless. She could have died.

Eric looks at her, taking his time to look her up and down. Then he looks me up and down. He begins to laugh and it escalates. He laughs to loudly and for too long. It is menacing and is meant to belittle her. I try to seem like I agree with him, but on the inside I want to wrap my hands around his throat.

Eric smirks at her, "Isn't he a little too old for you, Tris?"

She wipes a tear from her cheek. "Can I go now?"

"Fine." Eric says, "but you are not allowed to leave the compound without supervision again, you hear me?"

She nods and he turns toward me. "And you...had better make sure none of the transfers leave this compound again. And that none of the others try to kiss you."

I roll my eyes. " Fine."

Tris turns and walks out of the room to the alley. Eric walks towards the door, smashing into my shoulder as he passes. I glare at him and he laughs. "Like that stiff ever had a chance with you. Pathetic."

My fists clench but I immediately steady myself realizing that he is trying to bait me. When he doesn't see me react he continues to the door. I breathe a sigh of relief, hoping we have convinced him for now. I press my hand back to my face. Now, if I can only convince Tris.

I stand there for a minute. I don't move. I can't act to anxious to go after her. I know Eric is going to walk back in at any moment and catch us. Tris walked out of the room and all I can think is that she left the compound again. My heart races in my chest thinking that I may have lost the only person that matters to me.

I wait one minute, then five, then ten. All the while imagining her in danger. Soon it is too much for me to take and I go after her. I walk out into the alley and see her sitting on the pavement, eyes closed, head down, knees pulled tightly to her chest. As I approach her, she looks at me and stands up. Her arms are crossed, looking at me, not as Tobias, but as Four. I don't like the way she looks at me. I don't want her to see me that way.

"What?" She says defensively as I near her.

"Are you all right?" A crease appears between my eyebrows, and I touch her cheek gently. Hoping she will realize I was trying to protect her. She bats my hand away. A cold look in her eyes. My heart sinks in my chest, knowing that I have hurt her.

"Well," She says, "first I got reamed out in front of everyone, and then I had to chat with the woman who's trying to destroy my old faction, and then Eric almost tossed my friends out of Dauntless, so yeah, it's shaping up to be a pretty great day, Four."

The way she says Four makes me prickle. She does it pointedly and purposefully, reminding me that she is angry at me. Why is she so stubborn? It frustrates me and excites me all at the same time. Can't she understand that I love her? At least I think I do. I don't really know anything about love, but I think this is it. I just shake my head. She needs to get it out. She won't listen until she does. I need her to listen, so I just shake my head and sigh, looking at the surrounding buildings, not wanting to see the hurt and anger so apparent in her eyes.

"Why do you care, anyway?" she snaps at me. "You can be either cruel instructor or concerned boyfriend. You can't play both parts at the same time."

"I am not cruel." I scowl at her. My patience is thinning, I continue with a little more force in my words. "I was protecting you this morning. How do you think Peter and his idiot friends would have reacted if they discovered that you and I were…" she looks up at me and I can see the anger begin to leave them as she starts to realize I was trying to protect her. I sigh, "You would never win. They would always call your ranking a result of my favoritism rather than your skill."

She opens her mouth as if she is going to come back at me, then she closes it. She presses her hands to her cheeks trying to hide the blush that is spreading across them. Then she looks at me again, and says, "You didn't have to insult me to prove something to them."

"And you didn't have to run off to your brother just because I hurt you," I rub the back of my neck, thinking about the fact I hurt her. I didn't mean to hurt her. I am still trying to get the hang of being kind.

"Besides—it worked, didn't it?" I say trying to get around talking about the fact I hurt her.

"At my expense." She says derision in her voice. She clearly isn't going to let it go that easily.

"I didn't think it would affect you this way." I say, more gently this time. It is true. I didn't think she would take it so hard. She is strong, able to take anything Peter and the others throw at her without so much as a whimper. I didn't think about it being different coming from me. I told it was ok to let her guard down around me and then attacked her. I look down, embarrassed by the fact I didn't think about that, and shrug. "Sometimes I forget that I can hurt you. That you are capable of being hurt."

She slides her hands in her pocket and rocks on her heels for a moment, then she grins slightly. She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me. Her eyes meet mine and they have that same spark in them, no longer cold.

"You're brilliant, you know that?" she shakes her head. "You always know exactly what to do."

"Only because I've been thinking about this for a long time," I say, kissing her briefly. "How I would handle it, if you and I…" I pull back and smile, thinking about what she said earlier. "Did I hear you call me your boyfriend, Tris?"

"Not exactly." she shrugs and looks up at me cautiously. "Why? Do you want me to?"

I slip my hands over her neck and press my thumbs under her chin, hooking my fingers behind her ears, forcing her to look up at me. I press my forehead to hers, breathing her in. My breathes mingled with hers. My eyes are closed and I feel my heartbeat beating in my finger tips. I am so nervous, but the thought of her pressed so close to me pushes me through it.

I take a deep breath, "Yes." I think about her and me, together. Then the fear takes over, thinking about what Eric and the others would do if they find out. My smile fades and I am consumed with worry, "You think we convinced him you're just a silly girl?"

"I hope so. Sometimes it helps to be small. I'm not sure I convinced the Erudite, though." she says.

I frown thinking about the Erudite. I have noticed some strange things lately, overheard bits of conversations and seen some strange visitors to the compound on the security cameras. I know something is coming, but I don't know what. I know it has to do with the Divergent, which would put us in even more danger. I am hoping I am wrong, but I know I need to tell her. We are stronger together, this I am certain of. I look at her and my voice is concerned and serious, more like Four than Tobias, "There's something I need to tell you."

She looks up at me concerned, the same unsure look that she had earlier when she called me her boyfriend. "What is it?"

"Not now. Meet me back here at eleven thirty. Don't tell anyone where you're going." I say, pulling her tightly to me, wanting to feel her pressed against me before I go back to pretending she means nothing to me. I let her go and turn in a rush back to the compound. I feel cold in her absence. The ghost of her arms against me lingering on my skin. I don't look back. I just keep walking. I harden my face and try to look cold, but it is difficult as the thought of her being mine makes it hard to hide the smile tugging at my lips.

I walk through the compound lost in my thoughts of how to keep her safe. Safe from Eric, safe from Erudite, safe from whatever life my throw at us. If I ever lost her, there would be no coming back from what it would do to me. I realize that she holds complete power over me. I have never felt this before. Vulnerable. She consumes me and there is no fighting it.

I go to the control room and sit in the back corner. I find her on the security cameras headed back to the pit. She finds Christina and I can see her start to question Tris about today's events. Tris shrugs her off and they head back to the dorms. I don't leave my spot rooted to the view of her. I will watch her, make sure Eric doesn't try anything else today. I can keep her safe from Eric and the others inside this compound. Erudite, however, is a different story. I need to have a plan, but I need her help. One more day and then we can be together, forever. One more day and I will never have to let her go